Indian Ocean tsunami alert lifted after Aceh quake

A tsunami watch declared after two major earthquakes off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province has now been cancelled, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PWTC) says.

Two hours after the quakes - one with a magnitude of 8.6, the other measuring 8.3 - the centre says "the threat has diminished or is over for most areas".
The alerts caused panic as people fled buildings and made for high ground.
There have been no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
India, Thailand and Sri Lanka have also lifted their own tsunami warnings
A PTWC alert said that sea level readings indicated a tsunami was generated and that it "may already have been destructive along some coasts," without specifying where.
A Thai disaster official said a 10cm wave had been recorded on Koh Miang island, off Phang Nga.
Earlier, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the authorities were remaining "vigilant", despite the lack of tsunami reports.
"Our warning system is working well, and I have ordered the national relief team to fly immediately to Aceh to ensure the situation is under control and to take any necessary action," he said.

The alerts caused panic in Aceh province, as people fled from buildings

A few hours later, the PTWC renewed its warning after a major aftershock measuring 8.2 struck 16km (10 miles) beneath the ocean floor and 615km from Banda Aceh.
An AFP correspondent in Banda Aceh said the second aftershock lasted four minutes.
The PTWC issues advisory alerts across the region, which state authorities can use to issue their own emergency procedures. Indonesia straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of major seismic activity.

'Minute of chaos'

Sutopo, a spokesman for Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency, said electricity had been cut in Aceh and there were traffic jams to access higher ground.
"Sirens and Koran recitals from mosques are everywhere," he told Reuters.
Tremors were felt as far away as Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bangladesh and India. The French island of Reunion was also on alert.


"There was a tremor felt by all of us working in the building," a man called Vincent in Calcutta, India, told the BBC.
"All just ran out of the building and people were asked not to use the elevator. There was a minute of chaos where all started ringing up to their family and asking about their well-being."
Tsunami warning sirens, set up in many vulnerable areas after the 2004 disaster, were heard in Phuket, Thailand, where correspondents said people were calmly following evacuation routes to safe zones.
Roger Musson, a seismologist from the British Geological Survey, said the quakes were unlike those seen off Indonesia in recent years, where ground had been pushed under the continental plate, "flipping up" the seabed.
"It seems to be a large earthquake within the Indian Plate and the plate has broken in a sort of lateral way," he said.
"It's a sort of tearing earthquake, and this is much less likely to cause a tsunami because it's not displacing large volumes of water."

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